Sam Webb Re: Damien Harris and George Campbell Status

Sam Webb updates the status of George Campbell and Damien Harris in the Detroit News. The status is much better for Harris than Campbell but Michigan is not out for either of them. Campbell insists Michigan's record had nothing to do with his decommitment because he feels he'd be part of the difference. The reason was that none of his family had visited Michigan and they felt he made a hasty decision. He's not sure if he will take an official visit to Michigan, but he hasn't ruled it out. He will make the decision when he has talked to more schools.

There have been other stories on Harris so I won't go into the details here. It does say that his mom feels the process will lead right back to Michigan.

Driving north through that state to Ann Arbor, just north of Findly about 1:00 AM. Was driving the legal 55mph in the right lane when two 18 wheelers came up behind me. One passed in the left lane the other on the shoulder. It was a scene straight out of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles.

I don't know if that's really fair to him. Recruiting's a long process and he didn't get the head start with these guys that other schools' coaches did. If he gets them, I see that a definite plus in his book but if he doesn't, it's not automatically a minus.

If he doesn't get them back, I don't think its a negative at all. I would like to think that its a no-lose situation being able to get them back. My hope is that his reputation as an OC leads these top-rated recruits back into the fold and gives Michigan as good of a shot at getting them as anyone else. THEN, the Michigan Difference takes over...

And the six months is just a wider window to be able to recruit 2015 players, enough time before NSD for that class.

Michigan's problem isn't recruiting. Its that they are just plain mediocre on the field. And since they don't play a game for seven months, there's nothing that Nuss can do between now and then to fix it.

He can sell his offense, and sell Michigan turning it around (again...who's getting dizzy?), but that's only going to be good enough to get into a recruit's ear. To seal the deal, they've got to win on the field.

I wasn't necessarily identifying what Michigan's problems are, I was only saying that if Nuss is as good of a recruiter that we've hyped him to be, he could get one of those guys back. If neither of them come back, as was identified, it isn't a negative at all.

But I agree, results on the field is the best recruiter we can have. However, don't read too much into what I was saying. I wasn't commenting on his coaching, just the power of his reputation as a recruiter.

I got your point, but given the state of Michigan's program (the on the field part) I don't think there's much the best recruiter in the world could do over the next six months. There's just very little that they can legitimately sell over that time span.

They might be able to reel in some high three star or low four star type recruits, but I think any high rated recruit is going to hold off and wait to see the on field product. And since its going to be a small class, I don't think Michigan will persue those lower level recruits that hard.

a lot and believe that he and TVH are the most accurate sources out there for predicting Michigan recruiting outcomes, but I don't think there's a chance in hell that Campbell's coming back into the fold. Harris I'll buy, but not Campbell. I hope I'm wrong.

I get a feeling that he was swayed away from his family and has lost that desire to come here. Also, this makes me think it is more unlikely that he will want to play here because it sounds like he cares more about what his family thinks. I don't believe this is a bad thing necessarily. Some people are family people. However, if he was truely a Michigan fan his whole life and then all the sudden allowed his parents to change his mind about coming here, that tells me his parents probably don't want him that far away.

on several occasions since he decommitted, and once said "that ship has sailed" in his opinion. Knowing Sam, he'll always say there's a chance until a commit signs elsewhere, but he's made it clear he's not gonna figure Campbell will return.

Smash committed to TMU (not Bama), but ended up walking on at A&M following his first year at Whitmore after having his DI scholarship offers pulled because of the fight he got into at a movie theater. (Granted, word was, the fight was over some white kids making racist comments towards his sister, so pretty understandable.)

at one time Harris, Campbell, Hand and McDowell all seemed like locks and now it seems as tho UM will be lucky to land one. I'd be curious, of those 4, who would be the most coveted if you could only choose one.

would be Hand. Top 10 caliber talent at a specific position of need (pass rushing DE). I get that McDowell could fit that mold as well so I'd have him #2 on the list, but since Hand was the better prospect I'd rank them as Hand, McDowell, Campbell and Harris. As much as I'd love to have Harris, I feel there's more need from a high-end talent perspective in the near term at DL and WR than at RB. After getting Green and Smith last year and having a realistic shot at Weber next year, Harris was (relatively) more of a luxury than the other guys.

i figure Peppers was a no brainer as the top choose above any of those other guys but for me it doesn't lessen the degree to which is hurts if we are to lose out on all 4 of those other guys. Now if Pepper too would have decommitted... then we'd be breaking out the anti-depression meds.

While I like Peppers better as a potential gamebreaker than Hand, it could be argued that there was more of a position-specific need for Hand. It all depends on what you think of the existing group of DB's already on the roster. Personally, I think Michigan's secondary (for a change) isn't the biggest problem on defense. The D-Line has been a sore spot for the last 2 years and doesn't seem to have enough gamebreakers to really push through.

At least in the secondary, we've got two pretty experienced CBs in Taylor and Countess, and two young guys who seem to have good potential in Lewis and Stribling and got meaningful game experience this year. Sure they got burned on a few memorable plays but at least their positioning was pretty solid. They look like they can actually play tight man coverage without getting completely lost, so picture that technique mixed with more seasoning and some additional weight put on each of them as they become sophomores and juniors.

To me, choosing Peppers over Hand is all about how much you believe in Lewis, Stribling and Dymonte Thomas long-term. If you think only one of those guys will really pan out as a good-great player, then I can see where Peppers becomes more of a need than Hand. Otherwise, I still say Hand because who in the current 2-deep on the D-Line do you see as having the potential to truly create a consistent, organic pass rush? Frank Clark, maybe, and he's entering his last year anyway so he's not exactly a long-term solution to this problem.